Mendocino County, CA History
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler
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History of Mendocino County California - Alley, Bowen & Co., San Francisco, 1880
BIG RIVER.
GEOGRAPHY.�This township is bounded on the north by Ten-mile River
township, on the east by Little Lake, Calpella and Anderson townships, on the
south by Arena township, and on the west by the Pacific ocean. The boundary
lines of the township are very sinuous, as is the case with all the townships in
Mendocino county, thus making its contour very irregular. There are no navigable
streams in Big River township, although an Act of the Legislature, approved May
2, 1861, declares Big, Noyo and Albion rivers to be navigable for a distance of
three miles from their mouths, but this is for purposes of franchise only, and
not that any vessel or craft larger than a canoe was ever expected to pass along
them clefting their waters with its prow.
TOPOGRAPHY.�The topography of this township is wonderfully varied, and
yet there is a close resemblance between it and all the other coast townships.
Along the ocean there is quite a strip of mesa land, and back of that it is all
mountains, intersected by rivers and streams putting back from the sea, which
course along through deep ca�ons with steep and abrupt sides, varying from less
than a hundred to more than a thousand feet in depth.
STREAMS.�As stated above, there are no navigable streams in the
township, but there are several of considerable importance for the purposes of
log driving, etc. Beginning at the south there is Elk creek, Greenwood creek,
Nevarra river, Salmon creek, Albion river, Little river, Big river, Caspar
creek, Noyo river, Pudding creek, and on the northern boundary line Ten-mile
river. Of these only those that are designated as rivers have enough water in
them to be of any practical use in log driving, but some of those have a good
depth of water extending far back into the woods, and the body of the water has
been increased materially by dams, so that in some of them logs may be driven
for a long distance even in the summer season, and of course for a far greater
distance during the winter. On the banks of all these streams, and adjacent to
them, are immense bodies of redwood timber, and at or near their mouths the
great milling industry of Mendocino county is prosecuted. These streams have
their sources far away up among the mountains many miles from the sea-coast, and
one wonders at the fact that an opening is found through all these mountain
ranges for a stream to pass down to the sea. The contortions of their courses
are something wonderful to behold, and a study for the geologist and
topographer, and a sore puzzle for the casual observer, and to him who reads the
emblems of the handiwork of the great creator, God, in all his works there is a
fund of study and thought which will furnish food for meditation and admiration
for many days. Surely chance could not have arranged the hills and dales,
mountains and valleys of that section so that the far reaching arteries of the
streams could tap the drainage of the far away interior valleys and bear it
through solid walls, as it were, of adamantine rock which has had its existence
"since first the morning stars sang together" on creation's early morn, ere
aught that we see now had existence save in the conceptive will and purposes of
God. No; but rather a master intelligence has planned and arranged it all, and
we see in it one of the most striking and wonderful displays of His power and
wisdom, excelled only by the dividing of the waters from the dry land. What
beautiful streams these are flowing from the very heart of the mountains, their
fountain heads bursting, as it were, from the living rock. Then in tiny,
prattling, bubbling brooklets it is gathered into the more stately stream, and
as it passes sea-ward it receives recruits at every mile-post until it becomes a
broad ribbon of silver, on whose bosom is reflected the bright rays of a
California sun, which serves also to throw the dense shadows of the great forest
upon its waters. Thus it passes onward, downward, from the brook laughing on the
mountain side to the sombre river which kisses the hem of its mother ocean in
all meekness.
SOIL�The soil along the coast on the mesa is universally rich and
productive in this township; but back in the mountains, not so much can be said
for it, although it is very rich along the streams. It is well adapted to the
growing of grain, vegetables, fruits, and vines, and in many places on the mesa
it is so rich that grain grows too rankly. Here it is a rich, black sandy loam,
to which, in many places, a goodly amount of calcareous matter is added, much to
the advantage of the soil, by decaying shell deposits, or mounds. As there are a
number of these shell-mounds in this township, we append the following article,
taken from the Overland Monthly of October, 1874, entitled "Some
Kj�kkenm�ddings, and Ancient Graves of California," by Paul Schumacher, which
will give the reader a fair understanding of these wonderfully curious
collections of shells. It is evident that these belong to a race which long
antedates the Digger Indian of to-day, and hence, no information concerning them
can be gotten from the present races. It is, however, doubtful whether they were
used solely for places of sepulture, although Mr. Schumacher's theories
harmonize very well with the prevailing facts, as revealed upon investigation
:--
"During my last visit to that part of the Californian coast between
Point San Luis and Point Sal, in the months of April, May and June of this year,
I had occasion to observe extensive kj�kkenm�ddings, like those I found, about a
year ago, so numerous along the shores of Oregon. These deposits of shells and
bones are the kitchen refuse of the earlier inhabitants of the coast regions
where they are now found, and, though differing from each other in their
respective species of shells and bones of vertebrates�according to the
localities and the age to which they belong�they have yet, together with the
stone implements found in them, a remarkable similarity in all parts of the
North American Pacific coast that I have explored�a similarity that extends
further to the kj�kkenm�ddings of distant Denmark, as investigated and described
by European scientists.
"In Oregon, from Chetco to Rogue river,* I found that these deposits
contained the following species of shells: Mytilus Californianus, Tapes
staminea, Cardium Nuttallu, Purpura lactuca, etc.; eight-tenths of the whole
being of the species first mentioned. In California, on the extensive downs
between the Arroyo Grande and the Rio de la Santa Maria--the mouth of which
latter is a few miles north of Point Sal--I found that the shells, on what
appear to have been temporary camping places, consist nearly altogether of small
specimens of the family Lucuia; so much so that not only can hardly any other
sort be found, but hardly even any bones. My reason for supposing these heaps to
be the remains of merely temporary camps is the exceptional paucity of flint
knives, spearheads, and other implements found therein, as also the absence of
any chips that might indicate the sometime presence of a workshop where domestic
tools and weapons of war were manufactured�a something that immediately strikes
the accustomed eye in viewing regularly well-established settlements. On further
examining this class of heaps by a vertical section, we find layers of sand
recurring at short intervals, which seem to prove that they were visited at
fixed seasons; those moddings exposed towards the northwest being vacated while
the wind from that quarter was blowing sand over them, and mutatis mutandis, the
same happening with regard to camps with a southwest aspect while the southwest
wind prevailed. It is fair, then, to suppose that these places were only the
temporary residences of the savages to whom they appertained, and that they were
tenanted during favorable times and seasons for the gathering of mollusks,
which, having been extracted from their shells by the help of the flint knives
found here, were dried in the sun for transportation to the distant, better
sheltered, permanent villages�the comparatively small quantities of shell
remains now found at these regular settlements going also to support this
theory. No graves have been found near those temporary camps of the earliest
known Californian pioneers. I discovered, indeed, one skeleton of an Indian,
together with thirteen arrowheads, but it was plainly to be seen that the death
of this person had happened during some short sojourn of a tribe at this place,
as the burial had been effected in a hasty and imperfect manner, and the grave
was without the usual lining which, as we shall see, is found in all the other
tombs of this region.
(* Of the collections made by Mr. Schumacher at that place, the complete and
illustrated description will be found in the Smithsonian Report for the year
1874.)
"On the extremity of Point Sal, the northern projection of which is
covered by large sand-drifts, we find down to the very brink of the steep and
rocky shore other extensive shell deposits, which, with few exceptions, consist
of the Mytilus Californianus and of bones, flint-chips being also found, though
very sparsely, in comparison with the mass of other remains. The sea having
washed out the base of this declivity, and the top soil having, as a
consequence, slid down, we can see on the edge of the cliff shell-layers
amounting in all to a thickness of four or five feet; that part closest to the
sublying rock appearing dark and ash-like, while the deposit becomes better
preserved as the surface is neared. At other places, for example on the extreme
outer spur of this Point Sal, the shell-remains have so conglomerated and run
together with extreme antiquity as to overhang and beetle over the rocks for
quite a distance.
"Leaving now these temporary camps, we shall visit the regular
settlements of the ancient aborigines. Traces of these are found near the
southern Point Sal, at a place where it turns eastward at an angle of something
less than ninety degrees behind the first small hill of the steep ridge which
trends easterly into the country, and which up to this spot, is, on its northern
slope, covered with drift-sand and partially grown over with stunted herbage.
Further traces of a like kind are to be seen on the high bluff between North and
South Point Sal. Here the shells are piled up in shapeless, irregular heaps, as
they are met in all localities on the coast where there were the fixed
dwelling-places of people whose principal food consisted of fresh shell-fish;
for, in the neighborhood of these permanent homes the shell-remains were always
put away in fixed places, while in the temporary camps they were carelessly
distributed over the whole surface of the ground. Very vividly did these
bleached mounds recall to my mind the immense remains of such heaps that I had
seen in Oregon on the right bank of the Checto, as also near Natenet, and near
Crook's Point, or Chetleshin, close to Pistol river. I remembered also how I had
watched the Indians in various places�near Crescent City on the Klamath and on
the Big Lagoon�forming just such shell-heaps; two or three families always
depositing their refuse on the same modding.
"To return to southern California. A deposit similar to those of Point
Sal, although much smaller, stands on the left bank of the Santa Maria river,
near its mouth. Both at the first described fixed camps, and at this place,
there are to be found tons of flint-chips, scattered about in all directions, as
also knives, arrowheads and spear-heads in large quantities. I was somewhat
perplexed, however, by being unable to find any graves; such numerous moddings
revealing the existence of important settlements that should have been
accompanied by burying-places. I therefore moved further inland, seeking a
locality where the soil could be easily worked, where a good view of the
surrounding country could be had, and where, above all, there was good fresh
water�all of which requirements appear to have been regarded as necessary for
the location of an important village. I soon recognized at a distance
shell-heaps and bone-heaps, the former of which gets scarcer as one leaves the
shore. Approaching these, on a spur of Point Sal upon which a pass opens through
the coast hills, and on both sides of which are springs of fresh water, though I
did not succeed, after a careful examination, in distinguishing single houses, I
believe I found the traces of a large settlement on a kind of saddle on the low
ridge, where flint-chips, bones and shells lie in great quantities. Further
search at last revealed to me in the thick chaparral a few scattered sandstone
slabs, such as in that region were used for lining graves. Digging near these
spots, I at last found the graves of this settlement�a settlement that the old
Spanish residents called Kesmali.
"Here I brought to light about one hundred and fifty skeletons and
various kinds of implements. The graves were constructed in the following
manner: A large hole was made in the sandy soil to a depth of about five feet,
then a fire was lit in it until a hard brick-like crust was burned to a depth of
four or five inches into the surrounding earth. The whole excavation was then
partitioned off into smaller spaces by sandstone slabs, about one and a half
inches thick, one foot broad, and three feet long, in which smaller partitions
the skeletons were. One of these slabs generally lay horizontally over the head
of the corpse as a kind of protecting roof for the skull, just as I had found
them at Checto river, although in the latter instance the graves were lined with
split redwood boards instead of stones. Such careful burial is not, however,
always met with, and must evidently be taken as the sign of the respectability
or the wealth of the deceased; the more so, as in such graves I found usually
many utensils, something not the case with the more carelessly formed tombs,
which were only very slightly lined, and in which the heads of the dead were
covered with a piece of rough stone or half a mortar. The slabs above mentioned
were generally painted, and a piece which I carried off with me was divided
lengthwise by a single straight, dark line, from which radiated on either side,
at an angle of about sixty degrees, thirty-two other parallel red lines, sixteen
on each side, like the bones of a fish from the vertebra. In most cases the
inner side of the slab was painted a simple red.
"In these graves the skeletons lay on their backs with the knees drawn
up, and the arms, in most cases, stretched out. No definite direction was
observed in the placing of the bodies, which frequently lay in great disorder,
the saving of room, having been apparently the prime consideration. Some
skeletons, for example, lay opposite to each other, foot to foot, while
adjoining ones again were laid crosswise. The female skeletons have, instead of
the protecting head-slab, a stone mortar placed on its edge so as to admit the
skull, or a stone pot, which latter, if too narrow in the neck to admit the
skull, is simply buried underneath it. Cups and ornaments, both in the case of
men and women, lie principally about the head, while shell-beads are found in
the mouth, the eye-sockets, and in the cavity of the brain, which latter is
almost always filled with sand pressed in through the foramen, magnum. The
skeletons were in some cases packed in quite closely, one over another, so that
the uppermost were only about three feet below the surface of the ground. The
stain of poverty is very evident on these, except, perhaps, where they are
females, as they are in the majority of cases. I cannot accept the hypothesis
that these were the slaves of some rich man and buried with their master; for
the lower skeletons were generally found to have been disturbed in a very
singular manner, such as could only have been occasioned by a reopening of the
grave after decomposition had set in. I found, for example, a lower jaw lying
near its right place, but upside down, so that both the upper and the lower
teeth pointed downward; in another case, the thigh�bones lay the wrong way, the
knee-pans being turned toward the basin; and, in other instances, the bones were
totally separated and mixed up�all going to show that the graves had been
repeatedly opened for the burial of bodies at different times. Once I even
found, upon piercing the bottom crust of one sepulcher, another lying deeper,
which perhaps had been forgotten, as the bones therein were somewhat damaged by
fire. Plenty of charcoal is found in these tombs, usually of redwood, rarely of
pine; and I could not determine any third variety. Sometimes there were also
discovered the remains of posts from three to six inches in diameter, and of
split boards about two inches in thickness. These are probably the remains of
the burned dwelling of the deceased, placed in his grave with all his other
property, after a fashion I observed in Checto last year.
"I examined other graves resembling those described of Point Sal. These
others are known by the name of Temeteti. They lie about fourteen miles north of
the Point Sal graves, and are situated on the right bank of the Arroyo de los
Berros, opposite to the traces of former settlements about seven miles inland.
These tombs only differed from those of Kesmali in not being lined with the
thick burnt, brick-like crust mentioned above, but with a thin, light-colored
crust, slightly burned, and not more than a quarter of an inch thick.
"In company with the well-informed and industrious antiquaries, Doctor
Hays and Judge Venabel, I explored another aboriginal settlement known by the
name of Nipomo. It is situated on a large rancho of like name, and distant about
a mile and a half from the Nipomo Ranch House, occupied by the hospitable Dana
brothers. Lastly I examined the Walekhe settlement. About twenty-five miles from
the mouth of the Santa Maria river, there empties into it the Alamo creek,
bringing down rather a large amount of water. Following the wide bed of the
Santa Maria for about seven miles farther up stream, one reaches a smooth
elevation, which at this place rises about sixty feet above the bend of the
creek, and which trends in a curve toward the mountains on the right bank. At
the farthest end of this, at a place where a fine view over the whole valley is
had, we find the traces of the ancient village now known as Walekhe. A short
distance from the former dwellings on the highest point of the ridge, a small
excavation marks the spot where once a house stood, probably that of a chief.
And here, indeed, I voluntarily imagined that I saw with my bodily eyes the
strange primeval race that once called this place home. I saw the mothers of the
tribe, lying with children at their breasts, or bending above the wearying
mortar, while the sweat rolled over their dusky skins, painted with the colors
and decked with the pearls that we at this day find lying beside them in those
silent graves whose secret we have caught. Under the neighboring oaks�old oaks
now, but young enough then�I saw the squatted men smoking their strange stone
pipes; while, in the creek below, the youth cooled their swarthy bodies, or
dried themselves in the sun, lying sweltering on its sandy banks. I heard the
cry of the sentinels, as they, ever watching warily for an approaching possible
enemy, caught sight of the returning hunter, loaded with elk and rabbits. And
now�their graves lie there.
"With regard to the general character of the domestic utensils, arms and
ornaments which I found in the digging down to, and examining of, about three
hundred skeletons in the graves of Kesmali, Temeteti, Nipomo and Walekhe, these
things from the different localities named resemble each other very closely,
seeming to show that all their possessors belonged to the same tribe. First of
all, the large cooking-pots draw one's attention�hollow globular or pear-shaped
bodies, hollowed out of magnesian mica. The circular opening, having a small and
narrow rim, measures only five inches in diameter in a pot with a diameter of
eighteen inches. Near the edge of the opening, this vessel is only a quarter of
an inch thick, but it thickens in a very regular manner toward the bottom, where
it measures about one and a quarter inch through. Made of the same material, I
found other pots of a different shape�namely, very wide across the opening, and
narrowing as they grow toward the bottom. With these I have also now in my
possession many different sizes of sandstone mortars of a general semi-globular
shape, varying from three inches in diameter and an inch and a half in height,
up to sixteen inches in diameter and thirteen inches in height�all external
measurements�with pestles of the same material to correspond. There were,
further, quite an assortment of cups, measuring from one and a quarter to six
inches in diameter, neatly worked out of polished serpentine. The smallest of
these that I found was inclosed, as in a doubly covered dish, by three shells,
and contained paint; traces of which, by the by, were found in all these cups,
from which we may suppose that they were not in use for holding food.
"Neither spoons nor knives were found in these graves. I got, however,
three beautiful cigar-holder-like pipes of serpentine, much stronger than, but
similar in shape to, those dug out in Oregon. But few arms were picked up
here�only a few arrowheads and spear-heads; these, however, mostly of exquisite
workmanship. A spear-head of obsidian, five and a half inches long, was the only
object I found of this material; another lance point of chalcedony, nine and a
half inches long, and one and a quarter inch wide, was beautifully shaped and
carefully made.
"Many of these objects were found perfect, and those that were broken
had been broken by the shifting and pressure of the soil, as could easily be
seen from their position. It is, therefore, certain that the bulk of the
property buried with a person was not purposely broken or destroyed�the same
thing holding true in my investigations in Oregon. I even found mortars and
pestles which had been repaired and cemented with asphaltum. The richer
occupants of these graves had shell beads in great numbers, sickle-shaped
ornaments of the abalone shell, and an ornament resembling the dentalium but
made of a large clam-shell within or strewed about their heads�striving, though
they brought nothing into the world, at least to carry something out."
CLIMATE.�There is but little variety in the climate in the different
sections of this township, as it on the western slope of the Coast Range
mountains facing the ocean. The ordinary climate is foggy and cold, even in the
heart of the summer season, but there are days of unparalleled beauty and
brightness here, which are only the more appreciated on account of the contrast
with the damp, sunless days which are so frequent. A writer from Mendocino City
in 1866 thus graphically and beautifully describes the close of one of those
delightful days:�"Just now the clouds are tinged with the lovliest crimson. The
sun has set, leaving the pathway he has so lately traversed lined with heaven's
varied hues. Sparkling beneath those golden clouds lies the ocean, its bosom now
calm, as if subdued by the beauty of God's handiwork; as if, by one common
impulse, all nature is sinking to repose.
"See the glowing sunset now
Tinge the mountain's misty brow,
Over field and meadow bright
Spread a flood of golden light.
"Over vale and crystal stream,
Shedding now its level beam,
Soon the night, with sable wing,
Rest to weary ones will bring,"
But for pure, unadulterated sea air, full of fog and oxygen, charged
with ozone, salubrious and salsuginous, invigorating and life-giving air, that
will make the pulses leap and bring the roses to the cheek, One should go to
Mendocino City, where it can be had at first hand, bereft of nothing. Every
breeze that blows, except the east wind, is fraught with the odors of the sea;
but the wind of all winds, the one which seems to come directly from the cave of
Erebus, is the northwest breeze. It swoops down across this section with all the
fury of old Boreas, but fortunately it is shorn of his icy breath; still,
retaining enough of it to make one need flannels during all the days and nights
of its reign. In short, the climate is very cool and invigorating during the
summer months, and very pleasant and mild during the winter, and when one has
become accustomed to the fogs and the winds it is hard to find a place which
will suit better than here. The extremes both of heat and cold are unknown.
PRODUCTS.�The soil and climate of this township adapt it specially to
the growth of vegetables, while the cereals and fruits thrive well, except that
the fogs darken the grain, and mildew the fruits. The small fruits and berries
are especially thrifty here, and the latter grow in large quantities wild in the
woods, and afford ample opportunities for picnic excursions during the summer
season. Of the vegetables grown here, it is evident that the potato is the most
productive, and grows to the greatest advantage, of which large quantities are
grown yearly and shipped to the city, affording an article of export, and
yielding in the aggregate, a handsome return of golden dollars.
TIMBER.�Here, as all along the Mendocino coast, the prime conception of
the idea of timber is redwood. There are great forests of this timber along the
entire length and breadth of this township, and it is such an extensive
industry, and so closely allied with the prosperity of the citizens of this
section that it comes naturally first upon the catalogue in summing up and
describing the timber of the township. It was here that the redwood forests
first attracted attention; and here that the pioneer mill of Mendocino county
was put in motion, and the hum of the first saw blended with the roar of the
ocean to make harmonious melodies. These trees grow much larger in the deep
ca�ons and along the streams putting back from the coast, where the fog has
banked up amid their clustering foliage for ages during their growth; and right
royally they have grown, so that now these grand old forests primeval are the
peers of any of their congeners in the State, always excepting, of course, the
"Big trees of Calaveras." On the ridges they grow more sparsely, and on the
spurs of the mountains they hardly grow at all, but the few which did have the
hardihood to spring up in such forbidding places, were stunted in their growth
by the bleak winds from the northwest and warped into unseemly dwarfs of a
monster race. Their leaves and limbs have long since succumbed to the fierce
blasts of old Boreas and their trunks now stand mere bare poles, looking much
like skeleton sentinels guarding the destinies of the race of men who have so
fully supplanted the people which knew and, perhaps, loved them in their quasi
and quondam glory. Of the other woods the oak is the most plentiful, while fir,
pine, and alder are common. The chestnut oak is the most profitable as its bark
yields a handsome return, and its wood is good for burning.
EARLY SETTLEMENT.----It is impossible to fix the time now, when the
first white men began going up and down the coast, and passing through and
tarrying temporarily at least in this township. It is quite certain that Captain
William Richardson, of Saucelito, Marin county, was here as early as 1845 or
1846, for he applied to the Mexico-Californian Government for a grant to the
tract of land known as the "Albion," before the surrendering of California to
the United States by Mexico, and as the disse�o is almost a perfect map of the
country, it is evident that the old veteran passed over the ground himself and
examined it thoroughly. It was not, however, till 1852 that any real settlement
was made in the township, although previous to this, probably in 1850, a man by
the name of William Kasten, had squatted upon the site of Mendocino City. This
man was on his way up the coast in some sort of a sailing craft, and hard
weather caused him to seek the shelter of a port, and chance brought him into
this one. It is not known whether he had companions or not, or what became of
his craft, or what induced him to remain on what must then have been a very
bleak and inhospitable headland, so far removed from all association with his
fellow-mortals. But be all this as it may, the fact still remains that he
resided here from the time of his landing at the port until about 1854, when he
went to Mexico and died there.
During the winter of 1851-2, a vessel laden with silk and tea from China
and Japan to San Francisco, was driven ashore at the mouth of the Noyo river.
Reports of this wreck extended down the coast till it reached the settlement at
Bodega, whence a party went for the purpose of salvage. In passing up and down
the coast the large and available redwood forests on Big river attracted
attention, and wonderful reports concerning these woods, and their resources,
were carried back to Bodega. At this time the price of lumber had declined so
much more in proportion to the wages of the men, that availability was one of
the greatest factors to be considered in operating a saw-mill. The Bodega woods
were never very accessible to the port, and were getting worse every year, while
the Bolinas, San Rafael and Corte de Madera woods, had been well cut out, hence
new fields of operation must be sought for by the mill men.
About this time the well-known and enterprising Harry Meigs, arrived on
the coast with a full and complete saw-mill outfit, and began casting about for
a place to put his mill in operation. Being at Bodega at the time the party
returned from the silk vessel expedition, and hearing their goodly reports
concerning the forests, and the eligibility of that place for the erection of a
saw-mill, he determined to go at once to the place and take possession of it. He
accordingly went to San Francisco and purchased the brig Ontario, and placing
his machinery on board of it, and putting it in charge of a competent crew of
men, he dispatched it to Big river. The vessel passed over the bar at San
Francisco on the 19th day of June, 1852, and after a cruise of thirty days,
beating against heavy adverse winds and meeting other contingencies of a sea
voyage, they dropped anchor on the 19th of July. Of those who came up on the
brig on that trip, only John E. Carlson, and William H. Kelly, still reside in
Mendocino City; Captain D. F. Lansing came up on the vessel and resided here
till his death, which occurred in 1877, and his family still reside in Mendocino
City; J. B. Ford came from Bodega, overland with eight yoke of oxen, and arrived
ten days previous to the brig. William Kasten claimed the water front on the
north side of the bay, and Meigs purchased his claim, from Big river to the
ocean front. For this, in part payment, Meigs gave Kasten the lumber, with which
was built the first dwelling-house of sawed lumber, ever erected in the
township. This house is now located north of Albion street and on the east side
of Kasten, Mendocino City, and is owned and occupied by William Heeser as a
dwelling-house. It is not known what kind of a house Kasten had lived in, but
probably in a rough log shanty, or possibly with the Indians who had a rancheria
near by. What a life was this that this pioneer of pioneers must have led, so
far removed from all associations with others of his kind. It is not probable
that he saw a white man's face once a twelve-month, and perhaps not so often,
for communication up and down the coast at that time was very difficult and
dangerous, and was undertaken only by the hardiest and most daring adventurers,
and only on occasions of importance by even them.
Old settlers who have had occasion to pass over the coast trail, will
well remember the Mal Paso, and how well it deserved its name. Hence it can be
readily comprehended, how completely this man was shut out from all connection
with the civilized world. He, no doubt, had supposed that he had gotten beyond
the pale of civilization and the influences of human association, and was
content to sit down there on the shore of the grand old Pacific and eke out the
remainder of his existence in that sequestered spot. To him, life was shorn of
its obligations, and his days were spent cum otium, and we doubt not he was in a
measure happy in his way. Long absence from home had broken off all ties and
association with that sacred place, and when the love of home is lost, happiness
is not found by association with men, but in solitude, and solitude supreme
reigned here on this projecting point of land, extending far into the very heart
of the ocean. Vessels skirted the western horizon, going to and from the busy
world, but little cared he for that.
No messages of love, no letters from home were on board those ships for
him. Never again should he see the face of mother, sister, or wife, never hear
the innocent prattle or gleeful laughter of children. All that was past �aye,
dead in his memory ! Of the future, he recked not, nor cared so long as he was
left undisturbed. But a change came, and the waves from the human seas to the
eastward began to dash against the adamantine walls of the Rocky mountains, just
as the ceaseless surge of the mighty Pacific broke on reefs at his feet, and at
length the crested waves began to dash over and fill the valleys below, and when
the tide reached him, instead of being lapped up by the swelling surf and
becoming a part of the great body politic, he vanished, seeking shelter in the
fastnesses of the mountains of other lands. As it was with him, so has it been
with almost all the pioneer pioneers. Whither they have gone, no one knows, no
trace is left behind and they have, probably, all gone to that undiscovered
country from whose bourne no traveler bath yet returned, "unwept, unhonored and
unsung."
Of course, as soon as the mill was established at Mendocino City quite a
settlement sprang up around it, and others were attracted to the section, until
in 1854 there were settlers all along the coast of this township. Beginning at
the southern line, we find their locale to be as follows: At Cuffy's Cove there
was Frank Farnier, known in all the country round as " Portugee Frank;" also at
this place were the Greenwood brothers, consisting of Britton B., William, Boggs
and James. They lived in a square house constructed of split redwood boards,
which were riven on the top of one of the adjacent hills and brought down to the
building site on the back of a horse. This was doubtless the first real house
that was ever built in the township. Passing on up the coast the next settler
was at Nevarra, and was that staunch old pioneer, Charles Fletcher. His house
was on the south side of the river, about where his present residence now is. He
had a ferry established there, and used an old "dug-out " canoe for the purposes
of his business. At the Albion, Manuel Lawrence lived on the hill on the south
side of the river. Lloyd Bell had a place just north of Little river, where
William H. Kent now resides, and he was engaged in hunting game for the mill
company. At Mendocino City, or Big River as it was then called, there were two
mills, and all the men and buildings necessary to conduct that enterprise; there
was also the house built by Kasten. On the northern side of Russian Gulch
Messrs. Simpson & White, now of Cahto, had a log house. At Pine Grove Captain
Peter Thompson had a house, and farmed and had a band of cattle there. On the
north side of Caspar creek there was a man by the name of Caspar,�hence the
name,�who had a small band of cattle and a few horses. At the Noyo river Captain
Rundell had located, just on the south side of the river, and above him, about
one and a half miles, Samuel Watts had a claim and was living on it. This list
of names has been kindly furnished us by that worthy pioneer G. Canning Smith,
hence is perfectly reliable, and we are thus enabled to fasten upon the pages of
history, ere the remembrance of them has faded away, a full and complete
catalogue of the settlers along the coast of this township at that time, 1854,
in which we must include Mr. Smith himself, as he had settled permanently in
this township at this time, that being the year of his location here.
Of course, we are unable to give all the names of those who were
connected with the Big River mill in those early days, for a quarter of a
century or more has had the effect of beclouding the memories of the "old boys"
more than even they are willing to acknowledge. As far, however, as we have been
able we have gathered these names together, and the year in which they arrived
in the township, and will here place them on record, so that they may be handed
down to succeeding generations as the pioneers of the Big River coast. In 1852
we find that the following men came in and located: William H. Kent, now at
Little River; W. H. Kelley and John E. Carlson, now of Mendocino City; J.
Scharf; Gebhard and George Hegenmeyer, the former of whom now resides in
Mendocino City; J. C. Byrnes, now of Noyo; Robert White and John C. Simpson, now
of Cahto. In 1853 there came A. F. Mahlman, now of Little River. In 1854 we find
that G. Canning Smith, L. L. Gray and James Nolan came into the township, and
they are still residents of the township. In 1855 James Townsend, now of Albion,
came to the township. In 1856 Silas Coombs and Ruel Stickney, both of Little
River, now came into the township. In 1857 Thomas Walsh, William Reeser, now of
Mendocino City, and E. W. Blair came in and located. In 1858 Haskett Severance,
now of Nevarra, C. R. Kaisen, A. Heeser, now of Mendocino City, F. P. Furlong
and J. D. Murray came in and settled. In 1859 N. E. Hoak came in. After this the
settlement of the township was more rapid, and it is impossible to carry the
list any farther and hope to have it at all complete. We would be glad to give a
short sketch of all the pioneer settlers of the township, and so far as we have
been able to secure them we have inserted them, and they will be found in their
appropriate place in this volume, and certainly do not form the least
interesting portion of our work, for it is of the experiences and doings of men
that history is made.
Ah! those hardy old pioneers ! What a life was theirs, and how much of
life was often crowded into a year, or sometimes even into a day of their
existence. Now that the roads are all made, and the dim trail has been
supplanted by well-beaten and much-traveled highways, how complacently we talk
and write and read of their deeds and exploits. The writer of fifty years hence
will be the man who will have the license to color up the heroic deeds of valor,
and set forth in fitting words a proper tribute to the valor and prowess of the
generation that is just now passing from our midst. We of to-day cannot, dare
not, say it as it should be said, for there are living witnesses who would say
it was too highly colored�too romantic, too fanciful. Heroic deeds do not seem
so to the enactors of the drama of pioneerism.
It has been theirs to subdue the wilderness and change it into smiling
fields of bright growing grain. Toil and privations, such as we can little
appreciate now, was their lot for many years. Poor houses, and even no houses at
all, but a simple tent or even an Indian wickeup sheltered them from the rigors
of the storm and the inclemency of the weather. The wild beasts of the woods
were their night visitors, prowling about and making night hideous with their
unearthly noises, and working the nerves of women, and often, perhaps, of men,
up to a tension that precluded the possibility of sleep and rest. Neighbors
lived many miles away, and visits were rare and highly appreciated by the good
old pioneer women. Law and order prevailed almost exclusively, and locks and
bars to doors were then unknown, and the only thing to fear in human shape were
the petty depredations by Indians. For food they had the fruit of the chase,
which afforded them ample meat, but bread was sometimes a rarity, and
appreciated when had as only those things are which tend most to our comfort,
and which we are able to enjoy the least amount of. But they were happy in that
life of freedom from the environments of society and social usage. They breathed
the pure, fresh air, untainted by any odor of civilization; they ate the first
fruits of the virgin soil, and grew strong and free on its strength and freedom.
They spent their leisure hours under the widespreading branches of the giant
forest monarchs, and their music was trilled forth upon the silver air by the
feathered choristers of "God's first temples."
As a reminiscence of those old by-gone days, and to give to future
generations an idea of what the pioneers had to undergo at times, we give below
an account of the journey of two ladies � Mrs. W. H. Kent and Mrs. J. F.
Hills�from San Francisco to Mendocino City via Petaluma, Cloverdale, etc. We
will go and meet them at New York City, and follow them on their long and
tedious journey to their new home in the Golden West. They took passage from New
York on the steamer George Law, and after a successful passage, although fraught
with all the tedious vexations of a sea voyage on the rough Atlantic, they
arrived at the Isthmus, which they crossed on the second train of cars that ever
passed over that road. On this side they embarked on the steamer Golden Age,
arriving in San Francisco March 27, 1855. They expected, of course, to meet
their husbands at the wharf, but it must be remembered that communication was
not so perfect in those days as now, and failure to meet engagements and
appointments where any great distance had to be traveled was the rule, and not
the exception, as now. Just at the time the husbands expected to start to San
Francisco to meet their wives, a heavy rainstorm caused all the streams to swell
beyond their ordinary flood levels; and they were detained for three weeks,
during which time the ladies were doing the best they could, under the
circumstances, in a strange city, full of strange people and stranger customs.
At last Mr. Kent arrived in San Francisco, and proceeded at once to meet his
wife. When they had parted in their Eastern home, Mr. Kent was dressed as an
American citizen, having on a dress suit, white shirt, and all the et ceteras
that go to make up the garb of an Eastern gentleman of a quarter of a century or
more ago. But when they met how changed was his appearance ! He had on a blue
flannel shirt, checked pants, black cravat, and all the other articles of
apparel which were usually worn by the early Californians. But we doubt not Mrs.
Kent was just as glad to see him as she would have been under any other
circumstances, and perhaps was never so rejoiced before nor has been since to
see his familiar face. They then began casting about for a way to get up to Big
River, but no schooner could be found bound to that port, as the mills were shut
down just at this time, so they had to make the journey overland. They took the
steamer to Petaluma, where they spent the night at Tony Oakes' hotel. That
genial mein host, who will be remembered by all the pioneers of Mendocino county
with feelings of kindness for the many favors extended to them by him in the
years long agone, still survives the storms of life, and now presides over the
destinies of an extensive caravansary in the beautiful little city of Haywards,
Alameda county, and is still the same genial Tony that all knew and loved so
well. From Petaluma they took a carriage for Cloverdale, paying $20 each for the
passage. On the way to Santa Rosa they only passed one house. At Santa Rosa they
took dinner, and then proceeded on their journey, going as far as the widow
Fitch's place, near Healdsburg, that night. The house on this ranch was an
adobe, and looked more like some old castle on the Rhine than like the
dwelling-houses which the eyes of our travelers had been accustomed to look
upon. Now the weather was the most delightful, and the full glory of a
California spring-time was visible on every hand. The green grass had sprung
into such life that it covered the valleys and mountain sides with an emerald
carpet. The myriads of wild flowers, just now in the full exuberance of their
wonderfully beauteous blooming, served to heighten the beauty of the scene, and
to break the monotony of the verdant foliage and grass which formed the
background to the picture. On the distant mountain sides and in the nearer
valley, the beautifully bright sunlight fell in a shimmer of golden flood,
making the world a truly beautiful paradise. In the morning, after a breakfast
made on hot sheep, they proceeded on their journey. They had to be ferried
across Russian river in a small skiff, and the horses were led after them and
swam across. At Cloverdale they stopped at Markell's house, so well known in the
early days, and so well remembered by all old settlers in this section of
California. From Cloverdale to Mendocino City there was no road, and only a
trail led from one place to the other, and this part of the journey had to made
on horseback, and for this purpose Indian ponies were provided; and the
cavalcade started off full of life and buoyant spirits, bent on making the most
enjoyment possible out of the tedious trip. The trail led up through Anderson
valley, and came out on the coast below Greenwood creek, thence up the coast to
Big River.
But changed are all things now ! Where was then the wilderness, are now
the fields of shining grain. The rude saw-mill site has developed into a
handsome village, with its church spires pointing like finger-boards, the way
the worshipers at its shrine are wont to travel, from the church militant below
to the church triumphant above. At every mile-post almost, along the road are
reared the bulwarks of our religious liberty, social freedom, and of our vaunted
civilization�the public school-houses, in which the youth of the land receive
instruction in all that goes to make the free American citizens. The arts and
trades thrive, and on every hand the marks of prosperity are visible. And above
all, standing out in bold relief, are the happy homes of the people, who now
live where the pioneers endured such hardships, and best of all, is the fact,
that many of the good old pioneer fathers and mothers still remain with us, in
the full vigor of their manhood and womanhood to enjoy these hard-bought
privileges and pleasures. Others still are with us, but in the waning, mellow
glow of life's setting sun, looking back upon the life they have led, with a
remembrance mingled with joy and sorrow, shaded and lighted by their varied
experiences; looking out upon the results of their labor with feelings of
exultant pride, knowing and feeling that the generations yet to come, will rise
up and call them blessed; looking forward with glowing hearts, full of hope,
trust and loving faith to the joyful time when they shall hear the Master's
voice bidding them come up higher, and enter into his joy; when the gladsome
welcome, "well done" shall thrill their hearts with a pleasure that shall never
die. Others have gone on before, to that reward, already, and their places are
occupied by their children, and even their children's children, and a strange
people who knew them not will soon fill the land. So, here on history's page,
let us render a fitting tribute to their revered memory:�
"No more for them shall be
Earthly noon or night,
Morn or evening light.
But death's unfathomed mystery
Has settled like a pall
Over all."